Innovative Ultracapacitors Hold More Energy

A team of experts says that it managed to develop a new type of ultracapacitors that can be used to store between 5 and 7 times the amount of electricity that “fits” into conventional ultracapacitors.

The achievement was made possible by scientists working with the Mountain View, California-based startup company Nanotune. The new technology developed here could help improve the average range of electric cars, while also reducing their costs.

Increasing the storage capacity of batteries is a very important step in the widespread adoption of electric cars as the next big means of transportation. However, at this point, buying such a vehicle is fairly expensive, while the drawbacks mostly outweigh the benefits.

But this could all change if electric cars could travel for hundreds of miles on a single charge, and if their price tag would make them competitive with petrol- or diesel-fueled automobiles.

The main problem today is that ultracapacitors are too expensive for the amount of power they can store. Still, they have the advantage of being able to undergo nearly a million recharges without getting damaged. They can also deliver fast bursts of power when needed.

What experts at Nanotune did is they developed a type of ultracapacitor that can compete with batteries in terms of energy storage capabilities. The research was conducted with a $3 million research fund provided by the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Right now, the technology developed by the company is priced at between $2,400 and $6,000 per kilowatt-hour. The US Department of Energy has proposed a target of $250 per kilowatt-hour, if the electric car industry is to compete with its fossil fuel-powered counterpart.

Officials with Nanotune explain that the seemingly-high costs their new ultracapacitors have could decrease to around $150 per kilowatt-hour in the near future. The ultimate costs depends on the price tags of critical materials needed to make the technology work, such as electrolytes.

As component prices fall, and production is scaled up, lower cost level will be achieved. In fact, the new ultracapacitors may come so cheap that they would provide a preferable alternative to regular cars.

A conventional ultracapacitor can hold up to 5 watt-hour worth of energy per kilogram, Technology Review reports, but the new ones are capable of storing as much as 20 watt-hour per kilogram.

For comparison, lithium-ion batteries reach a storage level of 100 watt-hours per kilogram.